Of the many types of electrolyzers that are commercially used for manufacturing fluorine and other chemicals, they all are subject to problems with respect to either reduced efficiency due to resistance between the cathode and anode or gas migration from one electrode compartment to the other electrode compartment.
The state of the art in the area of fluorine electrolyzers provides proof that the decrease of resistance between the cathode and the anode provides a positive effect on the efficiency of the electrolyzer because of the reduction on power consumption. As the resistance decreases, the overvoltage is decreased proportionally, which is a reduction on power.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrolyzer for manufacturing fluorine and other chemicals that provides improved efficiency by reducing the resistance between the anode and the cathode.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrolyzer that has improved safety due to a reduction of gas diffusion between the anode compartment and the cathode compartment in each direction, by employing an electrolyte-feeding compartment having a double diaphragm with a cavity therebetween at higher pressure than the adjacent cathode compartment and at higher pressure than the adjacent anode compartment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrolyzer with a membrane and electrode compartments (cathode and anode) independent of the gas compartments.
It is another object of the invention to provide electrode zones, anodic and cathodic, with multi-electrode elements.
It is another object of the invention to provide electrode elements disposed at an angle to direct the flow of molecular fluorine gas in an opposite direction to molecular hydrogen gas.
It is another object of the invention to provide total insulation between the fluorine side and the hydrogen side of the electrolyzer (electrical insulation and diffusional insulation.